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Spring Takes Home Silver in Moscow; Prepares for U.S. Qualifier
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Justin Spring takes home silver on high bar in first competition back from injury.
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May 30, 2007
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois assistant coach Justin Spring made his international comeback in style, finishing tied for second on high bar this past weekend in Moscow, Russia at the 2007 World Stars Artistic Gymnastics World Cup held at Olympiiskiy Stadium. The 12-time All-American and four-time NCAA Champion earned the finish with a score of 15.300 to grab the silver.
"It felt good to get back to competition again," Justin Spring said about his first competition back. "Overall, the meet was ran really fast paced, so there was getting through that, but I was very pleased with my performance. I feel like it says a lot about where I am at right now."
The Burke, Va., native returned to competition at the two-day event after suffering a season-ending injury last May in international competition and has since undergone three surgeries in preparation for the meet in Moscow, the 2007 Qualifiers, the Visa and World Championships and inevitably the 2008 Olympics.
Also competing in Russia, the USA's Tim McNeill of Falls Church, Va./University of California, but he did not advance to the event finals. Gymnasts from 38 countries competed in the event, which featured men's and women's individual events throughout the weekend.
The top finishers on high bar included Gold medalist Umit Samiloglu of Turkey (15.350) followed by Spring (USA) and Jeffrey Wammes of the Nederland's in second (15.300). Rounding out the top eight were Roman Kulesza of Poland (4 - 15.250), Epke Zonderand of the Nederland's (5 - 15.200), Sergei Khorokhodin (6 - 15.050) of Russia, Enrico Pozzo (7 - 14.650) of Italy and Yann Cucherat (8 - 12.950) of France.
Spring, of Team Chevron, also competed on parallel bars but did not advance to event finals, missing advancement by two spots, as he finished 11th.
"At that point in the meet, I had just arrived at the facility about 2 minutes before I was set to compete," Justin said. "The meet was run pretty fast, and with the language barrier, it was hard to follow at times. All of a sudden I was being told I was next and needed to get ready on p-bars. Unfortunately, I was rushed and when I got on the apparatus, I forgot to do a skill during my routine. Under the circumstances, I felt like my performance was good, but definitely not reflective of where I am on parallel bars right now."
The World Cup meet is the last of its kind for Spring before he heads to U.S. Qualifiers on Monday, June 4th, held in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. The meet is the precursor and qualifier for the World University Games, Pan American Games and Visa Championships (USA Championships) teams, and serves as a weighted percentage towards the decision and selection for the U.S. Senior National team and the World Championships team.
"My focus now is doing well at the Qualifier and making the Pan American Games team," Spring said about his plans from here on out. "The Pan American Games are being held in Brazil in July this year and is the first big competition before USA Championships and World Championships."
Also joining Spring at the Qualifier will be current juniors Wes Haagensen, Chris Silcox and Tyler Yamauchi. The primary goal for Silcox and Yamauchi is to make the World University Games, while Haagensen has his eyes set on a spot on the U.S. Senior National team.
After Pan American Games, Spring and the U.S. Senior National team will prepare for Visa Championships, which are set to be held on August 15-18. There, he and the rest of the U.S. Senior National team and the nation's best competitors will vie for a spot on the final U.S. National Team that will compete at the 2007 World Championships five days later. The Visa Championships will be hosted in San Jose, Calif., and count toward 70 percent of the decision for the U.S. National team selections.
After the National team is selected, the World Championships squad - a six member and one alternate team - is chosen from the 15 member U.S. Senior National team roster, which in an Olympic year, would be considered to be the Olympic team.
With that in mind, Spring and Haagensen are both looking to place their name on the roster of the most important U.S. team in the last couple of years. This season, the U.S. National team will be battling for a top finish, as only the 12-best teams at World Championships qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Peking, China.
In last year's competition, the United States finished 13th overall, its worst finish in over 20 years at the prestigious event. That year, Spring pulled out of the competition and withdrew his name from the roster for the U.S. National Team after suffering his season-ending injury just days prior to the event. This season, World Championships will be held in Stuttgart, Germany on September 1-9.
"The United States is going to be a contender as a top-five team at World Championships this year," Spring said about the event. "I think it's all in the back of our minds of how bad we did in 2006. The team just made a lot of mistakes last year, but we will be ready this year to contend against the best in the world."
For Silcox and Yamauchi, their final destination, should they make the team, will be the World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand on August 8-18, featuring the best collegiate talent in gymnastics.
A full recap of the upcoming events and qualifiers will be available on www.fightingillini.com, following the conclusion of action.
